Hazara’s Clergyman Harsh Criticisms of Taliban in Dasht-E-Barchi, Kabul
Mohajir Times
By Sara Masoumi
Shiites belong to the Qibla and cannot be excommunicated
Taliban’s leader does not give an appointment to the Shia scholars
Afghanistan has more critical problems than women’s hair
No Shia will become Sunni by force
In a gathering titled “Analysis and Evaluation of Recent Events” in Dasht-e-Barchi, Kabul, on February 2, 2024, Ayatollah Vaezzadeh Behsoodi, a well-known and influential Hazara Shia cleric, said in this meeting, in the presence of Taliban officials, this group with the killing Abdul Ali Mazari, and the removal of Jafari jurisprudence (Fiqh) and the arrest of Hazara women have committed a mistake. By criticizing the behavior of the Taliban towards the people and women, he said: “The Taliban are not superior to Moses and Harun, and the people are not pharaoh either.” [You can listen to Behsoodi’s critical speech in the audio above.]
Without referring to the widespread detention of Hazara women in western Kabul by the Taliban, Mr. Behsoodi said that Taliban officials enjoining good and forbidding evil, recently came to him and said: “We want to take serious action.” We will bring an army, ranger, and tank. He emphasized that the Taliban have many important things to do, but “The Issue of Shorter Pants, Hair or Chadar (Scarf)” is a moral and individual issue. Afghanistan has more significant problems that must be addressed.
Vaezzadeh Behsoodi emphasized that at that time he advised the Taliban to be careful in the way of enjoining good and forbidding evil, to act gently and slowly. Do not resort to violence, and Do not take military action. He said the recent arrests of women “created a problem, and people became upset and complained.” This Hazara cleric added that if the people are with the system, the system’s life will be long, and otherwise, the system’s life will be shortened.
Regarding the Taliban’s dealings with the Hazara Shiites, he reminded the “Three Mistakes” of this group. According to him, the Taliban’s first mistake was killing Abdul Ali Mazari, the former leader of the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e Wahdat-e Islami Afghanistan). The Taliban killed him on March 14, 1995. Vaezzadeh Behsoodi said, “The first mistake of the Taliban was that Abdul Ali Mazari trusted the Taliban and threw himself into your lap and said that Afghan [Pashtun] has shame and jealousy, but we did not see this shame and jealousy.”
Behsoodi considered the Taliban’s second mistake to remove Jafari jurisprudence from the Afghanistan educational curriculum. He said: “Religion is a sensitive issue and the Taliban has removed Jafari fiqh from the curriculum.” Addressing the Taliban, he said that no Sunni will be Shia and no Shia will be Sunni either and that the Taliban should not interfere with people’s religion.
This Hazara cleric considered the third mistake of the Taliban to be the issue of women and “Honor.” He said that besides Islamic matters, people are also sensitive to the issue of honor. He emphasized that because of these three mistakes of the Taliban, people have distanced themselves from this group.
Vaezzadeh Behsoodi addressed the Taliban leader and said that Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada does not give time to meet the representatives of the Shia Ulema Council. However, a Pakistani Mullah will meet with all Taliban officials, including the leader of this group, in two days.
He emphasized that the senior officials of the Taliban did not answer the Shia scholars in the last two years and seven months, and Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada did not meet with the representatives of the Shia Ulema Council. He added that the representatives of the Shia Ulama Council went to Kandahar and waited for a week, and no one met them.
Behsoodi complained about the Taliban leader and said: “A Pakistani mullah will meet with all Taliban officials within two days. This is a place to complain.” He emphasized that the governor of the Taliban in Herat wrote a book and “Excommunicated” Shiites and Hazaras. He further added: “Excommunication does not solve the problem. No one can excommunicate the people of Qibla. #SaraMasoumi
Thus, the Hazaras of Afghanistan have been subjected to discrimination, killing, suppression, accusations, massacres, and silent and open genocides in their land for years. However, after the Taliban group came to power in Afghanistan in 2021, this situation against the Hazaras has become worse and darker.
These days, Hazaras are subjected to various accusations, forced migrations, property grabbing, repression, insults, and humiliation, among which can be mentioned the arrests and abductions of Hazara women and girls in Dasht-e-Barchi of Kabul. Hazaras are even oppressed, discriminated and killed by their enemies on the charge of “Being Dependent on Iran,” while this is a baseless and absurd claim in cultural-religious relations. However, some analysts believe that the recent arbitrary arrests of girls in Dasht-e-Barchi of Kabul originate from the accusations of Sayed Issa Hosseini Mazari that he has given a big excuse to the Taliban.
Sayed Hosseini Mazari, the head of Tibian Center, recently said in his statement in the city of Mashhad, Iran, that during the rule of the government of the Republic of Afghanistan, “Thousands of Brothels” were active in Kabul. Among them, 960 of them were involved in Dasht-e-Barchi. Sayed Hosseini Mazari has also claimed that 500 churches were operating in Kabul only, all of which were destroyed by the Taliban. But this contradiction is inconsistent with the calculations of contemporary mathematical sciences and is a false accusation without evidence. Meanwhile, the office of Ayatollah Vaezzadeh Behsoodi, by publishing a statement on October 25, 2023, demanded “Sharia Punishment” for Sayed Issa Hosseini Mazari for the accusations made against the people of western Kabul.
On the other hand, a group of young people, culturalists, activists, Hazaras, and Shiites of Afghanistan, and especially the residents of Dasht-e-Barchi, demand the restoration of dignity and punishment for the insult, defamation, and publication of lies by Sayed Issa Hosseini Mazari and Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s judiciary. They have written this request to the judiciary and relevant courts of Iran. Unfortunately, until now, no practical and severe action has been taken regarding this request by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its relevant institutions, and courts. Part of the content of this request citing the articles of the Islamic Penal Code is as follows:
“Therefore, we Hazaras and Shiites of Afghanistan, especially the residents of Western Kabul, based on Article 697, 698 and 699 of the Islamic Penal Code (2013) and other relevant laws, demand from the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran punishments, prosecution and criminal punishment of Mr. Sayed Issa Hosseini Mazari and deal with a lawsuit with the Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) on the charge of insulting, slandering and publishing lies against the residents of West Kabul (Dasht-e-Barchi) and we are requesting to restoration of their dignity. We request the honorable court to consider the aggravating factors of the punishment, especially the multiplicity of crimes, the multiplicity of complaints and the scope of the harmful results of criminal acts, and to consider the severest punishment for the accused and defendants.” Read more in this link: Request to Restoration the Dignity of Hazaras and Shias in the Western of Kabul
Meanwhile, these days, the critical video of Maulavi Abdul Shakoor, a religious scholar from the Kunduz province of Afghanistan, is also circulating on social networks, in which he strongly criticizes the discriminatory behavior and violence of the Taliban group against the people of Afghanistan. Maulvi Abdul Shakur says in this video that “Taliban accuses Afghanistan citizens of various charges, including being a member of the Resistance Front or ISIS and obtaining forced confessions. In his speech, this religious scholar mentions that the Taliban extort cash from people by force of guns and impose back-breaking taxes on poor people, including the former government employees of Afghanistan. However, at the same time, they pretend to be religious and grow big beards.”
Therefore, according to the media reports of Abdul Shakoor, after such criticism against the Taliban, he was arrested by the intelligence of the Taliban group and transferred to an unknown place. Sources have told the media that Maulvi Abdul Shakur, who called the Taliban an oppressive group and called Afghanistan’s name an imposition word, was arrested by the Taliban intelligence and taken to an unknown place. However, the Taliban authorities have not commented on this matter yet. [You can watch Abdul Shakur’s critical words in the above video].
خیلی عالی بود. خدا همچین انسان های عالم و بزرگی رو عزت و سلامتی بده